Female Israeli Soldiers Are Proving Themselves In Combat

Last Friday, Caracel, the Israeli military's only mixed-gender
combat battalion, won a shootout against forces on the border
with Egypt. Israeli officals said three gunmen on the Egyptian
side were killed, one by a female soldier, according to the
Associated Press.

Israel created Caracel in 2000, to integrate women into combat
duty. Although it is a combat battalion, its main responsibility
has been defeating drug smugglers at the borders with Jordan and
Egypt. Until the ousting of Egypt's Hosni Mubarak last year, it was a pretty simple
gig. So simple, in fact, it was claimed that the male soldiers in
Caracal weren't strong enough to be in a regular, all-male combat
unit.

In the States, military leaders are finally realizing what female
soldiers can do. This July, the
Christian Science Monitor reported that the U.S. military was
going to open combat arms positions to female troops. Which on
paper is a major step. But women have unofficially been in combat
for years, whether they dressed as men to get to fight in the
Civil War, or drove supply convoys down Iraqi roads littered with
improvised explosive devices.

In the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, wars without typical front
lines, Lt. col. Tammy Duckworth lost her legs when the Black Hawk
she was piloting was shot down over the Sunni Triangle in 2004.
Spc. Monica Lin Brown, a medic, was awarded a Silver Star for
running through gunfire to get to her battle buddies while
deployed to Afghanistan in 2007. She was attached to an infantry
unit; they weren't supposed to take her "outside the wire," but
needed a medic.

While U.S. leaders saw women as emotionally different, U.S. Army
recently realized that women are not, in fact, just smaller men.
In 2011, the Army started fielding a new Women's Army Combat
Uniform, designed with different ratios in the chest, waist, and
sweep; narrower shoulders; elastic waistbands; and pockets in
spots female soldiers can actually reach.

This year, they went a step further, introducing protective gear
for female proportions. In the new vests, women will be able to
sit down without the vest hitting their chins, run without
getting bruises on their hips, and properly position the butt of
their M16s in their shoulders. Also, when protective vests fit
properly, soldiers are better protected.